Social media music streaming

ABSTRACT

Systems and methods for social media music streaming may include (1) providing a music service within a social media platform, (2) presenting, via the music service, a music consumption interface that displays a collection of personal music stations, each of which is dedicated to music content associated with a different user of the social media platform, (3) receiving user input selecting one of the personal music stations, and (4) in response to receiving the user input, playing music content from the selected personal music station. Various other methods, systems, and computer-readable media are also disclosed.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The accompanying drawings illustrate a number of exemplary embodimentsand are a part of the specification. Together with the followingdescription, these drawings demonstrate and explain various principlesof the present disclosure.

FIG. 1 is a flow diagram of an exemplary method for providing socialmedia music streaming.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of an exemplary system for providing socialmedia music streaming.

FIG. 3 is an illustration of an exemplary persistent entry point elementthat navigates to a music service interface.

FIG. 4A is an illustration of an exemplary contextual music player withan exemplary broadcast push button.

FIG. 4B is an illustration of the exemplary contextual music playerdepicted in FIG. 4A, which has been minimized and placed in a hoverscreen over a newsfeed interface.

FIG. 4C is an illustration of the exemplary contextual music playerdepicted in FIGS. 4A and 4B, which has been further minimized.

FIG. 5 is an illustration of an exemplary personal music stationinterface.

FIG. 6 is an illustration of an exemplary player interface correspondingto a personal music station included in the interface depicted in FIG.5.

FIG. 7 is an illustration of an exemplary hover interface that includesone or more actions that may be performed in connection with a musiccomposition being played from the personal music station depicted inFIG. 6.

FIG. 8 is an illustration of an exemplary messaging interfacecorresponding to the player interface depicted in FIG. 6 and/or thehover interface depicted in FIG. 7.

FIG. 9 is an illustration of an exemplary station interface thatincludes a collection of selectable personal stations.

FIG. 10 is an illustration of a messaging interface corresponding to anexemplary group chat that operates in conjunction with a music service.

FIGS. 11A-11B are illustrations of interfaces associated with a sharedmusic station that corresponds to the group chat depicted in FIG. 10.

FIG. 12 is an illustration of an exemplary group chat message thatcoincides with the shared music station depicted in FIGS. 11A-11B.

Throughout the drawings, identical reference characters and descriptionsindicate similar, but not necessarily identical, elements. While theexemplary embodiments described herein are susceptible to variousmodifications and alternative forms, specific embodiments have beenshown by way of example in the drawings and will be described in detailherein. However, the exemplary embodiments described herein are notintended to be limited to the particular forms disclosed. Rather, thepresent disclosure covers all modifications, equivalents, andalternatives falling within the scope of the appended claims.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EXEMPLARY EMBODIMENTS

People all over the world feel a need for music. Some music consumptionis a personal experience. However, music is also viewed by many as ameaningful social experience. In light of this, the present disclosureidentifies a need for improved systems and methods for providing acomputer-implemented music service that improves the social connectionexperienced through music.

As will be described in greater detail below, embodiments of the presentdisclosure may provide systems and methods for providing acomputer-implemented music service within a social media platform. Insome examples, the music service may be provided as an active layerwithin the social media platform. For example, the social media platformmay provide a digital media player (e.g., a music player) that may beused to play compositions (e.g., to play compositions that have beenorganized by the social media platform into music stations for itsusers). Additionally or alternatively, the music service may be providedas a passive layer within the various services offered by the socialmedia platform (e.g., a digital newsfeed service, a digital storiesservice, a messenger service, etc.). The music service may enable itsusers to easily share their music listening activities using aselectable broadcast push button.

In some examples, the music service may create a personal music station(that is, a user-specific music station) for a user of the music serviceand/or of the social media platform. The personal music station mayrepresent a public-facing music station dedicated to a particular userand may include music listened to by the user and/or music predicted tobe enjoyed by the user based on the music listened to by the user. Insome examples, a personal music station may include a persistent queueof music compositions. Meaning, the personal music station may include,within its queue of music compositions, music compositions correspondingto past music consumption, as opposed to only including music currentlybeing listened to by a user. Thus, the personal music station may enableasynchronous sharing of music listening behavior.

In some examples, a personal music station may only include musiccontent corresponding to listening behavior identified while a broadcastpush button is selected (e.g., within a player interface). In theseexamples, the broadcast push button may provide an easy sharingmechanism for a user, which enables the user to passively share theuser's music listening activities with others.

In some examples, a user of the music service may be presented with adigest of other users' personal music stations. For example, a user maybe presented with a music station interface that includes the personalmusic stations of one or more of the user's contacts. In these examples,each personal music station within the music station interface may beselectable. When selected, the music service may play musiccorresponding to the selected personal music station. This may enableusers to discover music from others' listening activities.

In some embodiments, the music service may enable users to startconversations relating to their music listening activities and/or toorganize group playlists (e.g., using a messenger service). In certainembodiments, the music service may create music stations that promote aspecific social connection. For example, the music service may create,for a user, a playlist consisting of music that has been listened to byboth the user and one of the user's contacts. As another example, themusic service may create, for a user, a playlist of music that is mostpopular with the user's contacts. In some examples, the music servicemay provide information relating to the cultural relevance of musicbeing played (e.g., related videos, cover albums, articles, commentsposted by other users, etc.). In one embodiment, the music service mayprovide users with a weekly music summary. The weekly music summary mayinclude a variety of information (e.g., most played songs of the week,new music of the week, etc.). In one embodiment, the music service mayautomatically create yearly music awards based on listening dataaggregated from its users.

As will be explained in greater detail below, embodiments of the presentdisclosure may improve systems for providing music that digitallypromotes social connection. The present disclosure may improve thefunctioning of a computer itself by improving music data organizationwithin devices.

The following will provide, with reference to FIG. 1, detaileddescriptions of computer-implemented methods for creating andmaintaining personal music stations within a social media platform.Detailed descriptions of corresponding example systems will also beprovided in connection with FIG. 2. Detailed descriptions of interfacesrelated to a corresponding music service will be provided in connectionwith FIGS. 3-12.

FIG. 1 is a flow diagram of an exemplary computer-implemented method 100for creating and/or maintaining personal music stations within a socialmedia platform. The steps shown in FIG. 1 may be performed by anysuitable computer-executable code and/or computing system, such as thesystems described herein. In one embodiment, the steps shown in FIG. 1may be performed by modules operating within a computing device. Forexample, the steps shown in FIG. 1 may be performed by modules operatingin a server 202 and/or modules operating in a user device 204 (e.g., asshown in exemplary system 200 in FIG. 2).

Server 202 generally represents any type or form of backend computingdevice that may perform one or more functions directed at providingmusic to users of a music service 206. In some examples, server 202 mayperform music functions in conjunction with a social media platform 208that provides music service 206 to its users. Although illustrated as asingle entity in FIG. 2, server 202 may include and/or represent a groupof multiple servers that operate in conjunction with one another.

User device 204 generally represents any type or form of computingdevice capable of reading computer-executable instructions. For example,user device 204 may represent a smart phone and/or a tablet. Additionalexamples of user device 204 may include, without limitation, a laptop, adesktop, a wearable device, a personal digital assistant (PDA), etc. Insome examples, a user 210 of user device 204 may also be a user of musicservice 206.

In examples in which music service 206 is provided by social mediaplatform 208, user 210 may be a member of social media platform 208 anduser device 204 may have installed an instance of a social mediaapplication 212 that operates as part of social media platform 208.Additionally or alternatively, user device 204 may have installed abrowser that may navigate to one or more webpages maintained by socialmedia platform 208. In these examples, music service 206 may operate aspart of social media application 212 and/or one or more webpagesmaintained by social media platform 208.

Social media platform 208 may provide a variety of services (e.g., inaddition to music service 206) for the users within its network. In oneexample, social media platform 208 may provide a newsfeed service. Theterm “newsfeed” may generally refer to any type or form of social mediaconsumption channel that presents a scrollable collection of newsfeedcompositions. In some examples, a newsfeed may scroll (e.g., upward ordownward) to reveal different compositions within the newsfeed, inresponse to receiving user scrolling input. In one example, thescrollable collection may include a collection of newsfeed compositionscreated by contacts of a particular user (e.g., friends of theparticular user). The term “newsfeed composition” as used hereingenerally refers to any type or form of composition that may bedisplayed in a newsfeed. Newsfeed compositions may include, withoutlimitation, text-based compositions, a music composition (as will bedescribed in greater detail below), media-based compositions (which mayinclude either a single media item or a collage of multiple mediaitems), and/or a link to an online article.

As another example, social media platform 208 may provide a digitalstory service. The digital story service may provide users with a storyconsumption channel, which presents a continuous series of digital storycompositions to a story-consumer, one by one. In one example, the storyconsumption channel may transition from presenting one digital storycomposition to the next automatically, without requiring any user inputto do so. In some examples, a digital story composition may only beviewable for a predetermined amount of time. For example, a digitalstory composition may be set to disappear after twenty-four hours. Theterm “digital story composition” may generally refer to any type or formof social media composition intended for a story consumption channel. Adigital story composition may include a variety of content (e.g., adigital photograph, a graphic, text, a digital video and/or a digitalrecording of a music composition). In some examples, digital storycompositions from a same source (e.g., created and posted by a sameuser) may be grouped together within the story consumption channel, suchthat each digital story composition from a particular source isdisplayed prior to displaying digital story compositions from anothersource.

As another example, social media platform 208 may provide a messagingservice. The term “messaging service” may generally refer to any type orform of digital message delivery system that enables users of socialmedia platform 208 to exchange messages (e.g., private messages betweentwo or more users). These messages may include a variety of content(e.g., a text, link, live video, voice recordings, music compositions,etc.) and may take a variety of forms (e.g., e-mail, text message, groupchat, etc.).

Returning to FIG. 1, at step 110, one or more of the systems describedherein may provide a music service within a social media platform. Forexample, as illustrated in FIG. 2, a providing module 214 may providemusic service 206 (e.g., to user 210 via user device 204) as part ofsocial media platform 208.

The term “music service” may generally refer to any type or form ofservice that digitally provides music. In some examples, music service206 may represent a web-based service that streams music to a devicethat is connected to a network such as the Internet. In one suchexample, music service 206 may additionally provide music when thedevice is offline (that is, when the device is disconnected from thenetwork). For example, music service 206 may enable music to bedownloaded for a designated amount of time.

Music service 206 may provide music in a variety of ways. In someexamples, music service 206 may provide a music player that plays musiccompositions (i.e., digital recordings of music compositions). In oneexample, the music player may play music that has been requesteddirectly via user input. For example, the music player may receive auser request for a particular music composition and may play therequested music composition in response to receiving the request. Inanother example, music service 206 may create a music station for a user(e.g., user 210) and the music player may play music content from themusic station.

The term “music station” may refer to any type or form of digitalcontainer that stores a queue of music compositions that may be playedvia a music player provided by music service 206. In some examples, thequeue may represent an evolving queue and music compositions maycontinually be added to the queue in real time (e.g., as the musiccompositions within the queue are being played). In other examples, thequeue may represent a designated set of music compositions (e.g., aplaylist). In some examples, the queue may be filled with musiccompositions that correspond to a particular genre of music or thatrelate to a common theme. The music compositions may be manually addedto a music station via user input, may be automatically added based ondeduced user preferences, or a combination.

Music service 206 may deduce a user's preferences in a variety of ways.In one embodiment, a preference-deduction module may deduce thepreferences based on the user's listening history with music service 206(e.g., songs played for the user, posted by the user, and/or designatedas liked by the user in the past). In one embodiment, a user'spreferences may be based in part on the user's current context.

Music service 206 may provide music in various modes. For example, musicservice 206 may provide music via an intentional-user mode. In thisexample, music service 206 may enable users to actively search for musicto consume and/or share. In another example, music service 206 mayprovide music via an ambient mode. In this example, music service 206may provide a user with music that the user has not specificallysearched for (e.g., by providing an automatically generated musicstation). In an ambient mode, music service 206 may (1) automaticallycreate a music station and (2) automatically provide a push notificationwith a suggestion to consume the automatically created music station.

In some examples, as discussed above, user 210 may be a member of socialmedia platform 208 and music service 206 may be provided to user 210 aspart of social media platform 208 (e.g., via social media application212). Music service 206 may operate within social media platform 208 ina variety of ways. In one embodiment, music service 206 may operate as apassive layer that operates in the background of another serviceprovided by social media platform 208 and/or as a supplemental featureof another service provided by social media platform 208. For example,music service 206 may operate as a passive layer within a digital storyservice, a messaging service, and/or a newsfeed service.

As a specific example, a composition interface that enables user 210 tocreate a social media composition (e.g., a digital story compositionand/or a newsfeed composition) may include a selectable element thatenables user 210 to add music content to the social media composition.The composition interface may enable the user to create a social mediacomposition that includes music content as the sole and/or primaryelement of the social media composition or that includes music contentas one of several components of the social media composition (e.g., asbackground music to a digital photograph).

In another example, music service 206 may operate as a passive layerwithin a messenger service. In this example, a messenger interface thatenables user 210 to create private messages may include a selectableelement that enables user 210 to share music in the private message, aswill be described in greater detail below in connection with step 140.

In addition, or as an alternative, to operating as a passive layerwithin social media platform 208, music service 206 may operate as partof an active layer within social media platform 208 (e.g., within anactive-layer interface or a set of active-layer interfaces dedicated tomusic consumption and/or music sharing). In some examples, anactive-layer interface may correspond to a music player, which may beused to play music content, as will be described in greater detailbelow. The term “music player” may generally refer to any type or formof application software, provided and/or utilized by music service 206,that is configured to play multimedia files (e.g., audio files) providedvia music service 206.

In additional or alternative examples, which will be described ingreater detail below in connection with step 120, an active-layerinterface may correspond to a music consumption interface that displaysa collection of personal music stations. Additionally or alternatively,an active-layer interface may correspond to an informational interface(e.g., a current music events page dedicated to information describingmusic that is currently trending within social media platform 208's userbase).

In embodiments in which music service 206 functions within an activelayer of social media platform 208, social media platform 208 mayprovide a persistent entry point to one or more active-layer interfaces.For example, as illustrated in FIG. 3, an interface 300 may include apersistent entry point 302, which may be permanently affixed to itsposition within interface 300, that navigates to the active-layerinterface. In some examples, a position of persistent entry point 302may remain the same within a variety of different interfaces provided bysocial media platform 208.

In some embodiments, as mentioned above, music service 206 may provide amusic player, which may be user-operable via a player interface (e.g.,an active-layer interface). In these embodiments, the player interfacemay be presented in a full-screen mode, as illustrated by playerinterface 400 in FIG. 4A. The player interface in the full-screen modemay include a variety of content. For example, the player interface infull-screen mode may include (1) a list of music compositions that arecurrently being played, that have been played, and/or are in queue to beplayed and (2) user controls that enable the user to pause the playingand/or skip forward and/or backward to other music compositions.

The player interface may also be minimizable, as shown in FIGS. 4B and4C, or dismissible. The minimized player interface may provide a minimalamount of information. For example, the minimized player interface mayonly (1) display a title of a music composition currently playing and/or(2) provide user controls allowing the user to pause the playing and/orskip forward and/or backward to other music compositions. In someexamples, the minimized player interface may hover over anotherinterface provided by social media platform 208 (e.g., via social mediaapplication 212), such as newsfeed 402 illustrated in FIGS. 4B-4C.

In some examples, the player interface may also include a broadcastingelement. FIGS. 4A-4C provide an exemplary depiction of a broadcast pushbutton 404. In these embodiments, a broadcasting module may beconfigured to broadcast the music content consumed via the playerinterface while the broadcasting element is selected. In some examples,the broadcasting module may enable a user to select an audience to whichthe music content will be broadcasted (e.g., a public audience, acontacts-only audience, an audience of select contacts, etc.). Thebroadcasting module may broadcast the music content consumed while thebroadcasting element is selected in a variety of ways. In some examples,the broadcasting module may broadcast the music content to a userprofile. Additionally or alternatively, the broadcasting module maybroadcast the music content to a social media composition (e.g., adigital story composition and/or a newsfeed composition).

In one embodiment, the broadcasting module may broadcast the musiccontent to a personal music station, as will be described in greaterdetail below in connection with steps 120-140. In these examples, aswill be described in greater detail below, a user of social mediaplatform 208 may be configured with a dedicated music station thatincludes the music consumed while the user has the broadcasting elementselected.

Returning to FIG. 1, at step 120, one or more of the systems describedherein may present, via the music service, a music consumption interfacethat displays a collection of personal music stations, each of which isdedicated to music content associated with a different user of thesocial media platform. For example, as illustrated in FIG. 2, apresenting module 216 may present a music consumption interface 218 thatdisplays a collection of personal music stations 220, each of which isdedicated to a different user of social media platform 208.

The term “personal music station” may refer to any type or form of musicstation that is dedicated to music content that reflects the musicpreferences of a particular user. Each personal music station may beconfigured as a public-facing station. That is, a user's personal musicstation may be conceptualized as a means for sharing and/or broadcastingsomething of the user with others, similar to the way a newsfeed and/ordigital story may be conceptualized as a means for sharing and/orbroadcasting. In one embodiment, the disclosed systems and methods mayalso provide a group music station, which functions in the same waysdescribed for personal music stations 220 but that is dedicated to musiccontent that reflects the music preferences of a particular group ofusers.

In some examples, a station module 222 may automatically create apersonal music station for each user that is registered with socialmedia platform 208 (that is, that has an account with social mediaplatform 208). In these examples, station module 222 may maintain eachpersonal music station as long as its corresponding user account isactive and may designate each personal music station by the usernameassociated with the corresponding user account.

Station module 222 may create a personal music station in a variety ofways. In one example, station module 222 may monitor, via music service206, the listening behavior of a user to whom the personal music stationis dedicated. For example, station module 222 may monitor music searchedfor and/or listened to via the user's user account with social mediaplatform 208. Then, station module 222 may select music compositions forthe personal music station that correspond to the monitored listeningbehavior.

Station module 222 may select music compositions that correspond to themonitored listening behavior in a variety of ways. In some examples,station module 222 may (1) identify music compositions that were playedfor a user, (2) deduce that the music compositions that were playedreflect the user's preferences, and (3), in response to the deducing,select the music compositions that were played and/or music compositionsthat are musically similar to the music compositions that were played.Additionally or alternatively, station module 222 may (1) identify musiccompositions that the user designated as enjoyable (e.g., by receiving auser selection of a “like” push button while the music composition wasplaying and/or by receiving a user submission of one or more musiccompositions that the user indicates reflect the user's preferences) and(2) select the identified music compositions and/or music compositionsthat are musically similar to the identified music compositions.

Station module 222 may determine that music compositions are musicallysimilar using any type or form of similarity-detection model. In someexamples, station module 222 may determine that the music compositionsare musically similar based on a usage analysis. For example, stationmodule 222 may determine that music compositions are musically similarbased on data collected from playlists of users within a user base. As aspecific example, station module 222 may determine that two musiccompositions are similar because the two music compositions areco-located in a same playlist.

As another example station module 222 may determine that musiccompositions are musically similar based on a musical quality (e.g., abeat and/or tempo), an artist, and/or a social reaction (e.g., derivedfrom digital comments posted to social media platform 208). In someexamples, station module 222 may determine that music compositions aresimilar using machine learning (e.g., based on an output received from aneural network).

The disclosed systems and methods may provide a variety of vehicles forgiving a user control over the privacy of the user's personal musicstation. For example, a user may select an audience for the user'spersonal music station via a setting in the user's user account. In someexamples, as described above, a music player provided by music service206 may provide an interface, such as player interface 400 depicted inFIGS. 4A-4C, that displays information relating to a music compositioncurrently being played via the music service for a user. As discussedabove, the interface may include a broadcast push button, such asbroadcast push button 404 in FIGS. 4A-4C. In these examples, a user maycontrol which music is added to the user's personal music station usingthe broadcast push button. For example, station module 222 may beconfigured to select music compositions for a personal music stationbased only on listening behavior monitored while the broadcast pushbutton is in the on-state.

Music consumption interface 218 may be configured in a variety of ways.In some examples, music consumption interface 218 may be exclusivelydedicated to presenting personal music stations. FIG. 5 depicts anexemplary music consumption interface 500 that is dedicated exclusivelyto presenting personal music stations. In other examples, musicconsumption interface 218 may be dedicated to providing a variety ofdifferent stations, including a set of personal music stations. FIG. 9depicts an exemplary music consumption interface 900 with thisconfiguration.

Returning to FIG. 2, presenting module 216 may select personal musicstations to include within music consumption interface 218 in a varietyof ways. For example, presenting module 216 may include the musicstations of user 210's contacts, as shown in FIG. 5, of users beingfollowed by user 210, as shown in FIG. 9, and/or of personal musicstations that have been designated as open to the public. Presentingmodule 216 may rely on any type or form of prioritization algorithm todetermine an order in which to present personal music stations.

In some embodiments, music consumption interface 218 may include asearch element that enables user 210 to browse the personal musicstations and/or the content of the personal music stations associatedwith music consumption interface 218. As a specific example, a searchelement may enable user 210 to search for personal music stations withcertain criteria (e.g., for personal music stations of female contactsand/or for the personal music station of a particular contact) and/or tosearch for music (e.g., music compositions by a particular artist and/orthat relate to a particular theme and/or music type) that is included inthe personal music stations of user 210's contacts and/or a specifiedsubset of user 210's contacts.

Returning to FIG. 1, at step 130, one or more of the systems describedherein may receive user input selecting one of the personal musicstations. For example, an input module 224 may receive user inputselecting a personal music station 226 from among personal musicstations 220. Turning to FIG. 5 as a specific example, input module 224may receive user input selecting personal music station 226corresponding to Penelope Witherspoon. Input module 224 may receive theuser input in a variety of ways. In some embodiments, input module 224may receive the user input via an auxiliary device, such as a keyboardand/or a digital mouse. Additionally or alternatively, input module 224may receive the user input via a touchscreen.

In response to receiving the user input, one or more of the systemsdescribed herein may play music content from the selected personal musicstation (step 140 in FIG. 1). For example, a music player module 230 mayplay music content from personal music station 226 in response toreceiving the user input selecting personal music station 226.

In some examples, music player module 230 may, in response to receivingthe user input, display a personal station interface that (1) displaysone or more music compositions from personal music station 226 and (2)provides a music player for playing the displayed music compositions.FIG. 6 provides a specific example of a personal station interface 600that may be provided in response to receiving user input to personalmusic station 226 via music consumption interface 500 depicted in FIG.5.

In some examples, a personal station interface may provide a variety ofdigital means for socially connecting via personal music station 226.For example, as shown in FIG. 6, personal station interface 600 mayinclude a “like” push button 602 for digitally liking a musiccomposition being played, a “bookmark” push button for bookmarking amusic composition being played, and/or a “more” push button 604 that maynavigate to additional music-response options. As shown in FIG. 7,“more” push button 604 may navigate to an additional interface 700 withadditional options (e.g., to add a music composition from personal musicstation 226 to a digital story composition, to digitally share a musiccomposition from personal music station 226 in a private message, tosend a digital message to the user to whom personal music station 226 isdedicated, etc.). FIG. 8 provides an exemplary messaging interface 800of a digital message that may be initiated using a “message” push buttonillustrated in FIG. 7.

By creating and maintaining public-facing personal music stations asdescribed above, the disclosed systems and methods may provide aninteresting and searchable structure for organizing music. This mayenable a form of music discovery that promotes digital social engagementthrough music.

The disclosed systems and methods may enable social engagement via musicin a variety of additional ways, in addition to enabling socialengagement by providing personal music stations. In one embodiment,station module 222 may create a poly-user station for multiple users whoare contacts within social media platform 208 (e.g., user 210 and one ormore additional users). In this embodiment, station module 222 may (1)identify an overlap in the users' music preferences and (2) add musiccompositions to the poly-user station that correspond to the identifiedoverlap.

Station module 222 may identify the overlap in a variety of ways. Forexample, station module 222 may (1) identify a set of music compositionsknown or predicted to be of interest to user 210, (2) identify a set ofmusic compositions known or predicted to be of interest to theadditional users, and (3) identify an overlap in the set of musiccompositions.

In one such example, station module 222 may identify the overlap by (1)scanning a database of music compositions previously played by the musicstation for each of the users and (2) identifying one or more commonmusic compositions that are included in each database. Additionally oralternatively, station module 222 may (1) deduce a user music preferenceof each user (e.g., based on user listening history as described abovein connection with step 110) and (2) identify an overlap in the deduceduser preferences.

In some examples, station module 222 may additionally create amost-popular playlist for user 210. In these examples, station module222 may (1) identify one or more of user 210's contacts, (2) identifymusic compositions that are most popular with the contacts based on apopularity metric, and (3) add the music compositions identified asmost-popular to the most-popular playlist. Station module 222 may relyon a variety of popularity metrics in determining which musiccompositions are most popular with user 210's contacts. For example,station module 222 may determine which music compositions have thehighest number of listens by user 210's contacts, which musiccompositions have been listened to by more than a threshold numberand/or ratio of user 210's contacts, and/or which music compositionshave been listened to more than a threshold number of times by user210's contacts.

In one embodiment, a digest module may create a periodic music digest toprovide to user 210, which includes music-related information relatingto a current time period. In this embodiment, the digest module mayprovide the periodic music digest via music service 206 (e.g., within amusic-dedicated interface provided by social media application 212). Theperiodic music digest may include a variety of information. In someexamples, the periodic music digest may include information collectedvia social media platform 208. For example, the periodic music digestmay include a list of music compositions most popular with social mediaplatform 208's user base, such as a list of most played songs of theweek.

Additionally or alternatively, the periodic music digest may include asummary of digital social reactions to music compositions (e.g., socialmedia comments associated with music compositions during the period). Insome examples, the periodic music digest may include one or more newmusic compositions created and/or first listened to by members of theuser base during the period and/or information relating to new musicand/or current music events (e.g., information collected fromthird-party webpages).

In one embodiment, an awards module may automatically create musicawards. For example, the awards module may (1) aggregate listeningbehavior of its user base and (2) create an award based on theaggregated listening behavior (e.g., an award for a music compositionthat was most listened to by the user base, most commented on, mostdigitally liked, most often shared via social media platform 208, etc.).

In some embodiments, the disclosed systems and methods may provide amessage-sharing platform that includes a music sharing system thatenables social music engagement within groups. In one example, the musicsharing system (e.g., operating as part of music service 206) may enableusers to start conversations relating to their music listeningactivities. For example, a player interface used to play musiccompositions may include a share-button (i.e., a selectable element)that may be used to share a music composition, a playlist, an album, amusic station, and/or a collection of music compositions currently beinglistened to. The share button may be used to share the musiccompositions in a variety of digital locations (e.g., to a newsfeedcomposition, a personal music station, a digital story, and/or a privatemessage).

In some examples, the music sharing system may enable shared musicexperiences within a messaging system. For example, the music sharingsystem may allow members of a group chat to digitally share music. Inone example, the music sharing system may create a shared music stationfor members of a group chat. The music sharing system may create theshared music station automatically (e.g., in response to the creation ofthe group chat) or in response to receiving user input initiating thecreation of the shared music station.

In some examples, the music sharing system may enable the members of thegroup chat to add music compositions to the shared music station.Additionally or alternatively, the music sharing system mayautomatically add music compositions to the shared music stations. Inone such embodiment, the music sharing system may select musiccompositions that are automatically added based on (1) shared musicpreferences of the members of the group chat and/or (2) monitoredlistening behavior of one or more members of the group chat (e.g., musiccompositions listened to while a broadcast push button is selected). Insome examples, the shared music station may automatically be created foreach group chat that is created via the messaging system. In otherexamples, the shared music station may be created in response toaffirmative user input initiating the same.

FIGS. 10-12 provide a specific example of a group chat entitled“Roommates” that operates in connection with a music sharing system. Inthis example, a group chat interface 1000 may include a music stationselectable element 1002. When selected, music station selectable element1002 may navigate to a shared music station corresponding to the groupchat (e.g., depicted within player interface 1100 in FIGS. 11A-11B).

Player interface 1100 may include a variety of information (e.g., aqueue of music compositions, a music composition currently being played,and/or a list of members of the group chat that are currentlylistening). In one embodiment, player interface 1100 may be used tosynchronously play music compositions (e.g., via a music player 1102included within player interface 1100) to each member of the group chatthat is currently accessing the shared music station. In anotherembodiment, player interface 1100 may be used to asynchronously play themusic compositions (e.g., members of the group chat may select any songfrom the shared music station to play at any time). In some examples,the player interface may be used to add music to the shared musicstation (e.g., via an element 1104).

By creating a shared music station for members of a group chat, thedisclosed music sharing system may facilitate members of a group chat toshare music and discuss the shared music (e.g., using their group chat).FIG. 12 illustrates a digital messaging conversation 1200 thatincorporates music from a group chat's shared music station.

As described throughout the present disclosure, the disclosed systemsand methods may provide systems and methods for social media musicstreaming. In one example, a computer-implemented method may include (1)providing a music service within a social media platform, (2)presenting, via the music service, a music consumption interface thatdisplays personal music stations, each of which is dedicated to musiccontent associated with a different user of the social media platform,(3) receiving user input selecting one of the personal music stations,and (4) in response to receiving the user input, playing music contentfrom the selected personal music station.

In one embodiment, the computer-implemented method may further include,prior to presenting the music consumption interface, creating eachpersonal music station by (1) monitoring, via the music service, thelistening behavior of a user to whom the personal music station isdedicated and (2) selecting music compositions for the personal musicstation that correspond to the monitored listening behavior.

In this embodiment, monitoring the listening behavior may includeidentifying one or more music compositions played for the user to whomthe personal music station is dedicated and selecting the musiccompositions for the personal music station may include adding theidentified music compositions to the personal music station.Additionally or alternatively, (1) monitoring the listening behavior mayinclude (i) providing, to the user, an interface that includes abroadcast push button and displays information relating to a musiccomposition currently being played via the music service, (ii) receivinguser input selecting an on-state for the broadcast push button, and (2)selecting the music compositions for the personal music station mayinclude selecting the music compositions based only on listeningbehavior monitored while the broadcast push button is in an on-state.

In some examples, providing the music service within the social mediaplatform may include providing the music service as a passive layerwithin another service provided by the social media platform (e.g., anewsfeed, a digital stories service, and/or a messaging application). Inone embodiment, the computer-implemented method may further includecreating, for a user of the music service, a poly-user station dedicatedto the user and at least one additional user by (1) identifying anoverlap between a music preference of the user and a music preference ofthe additional user and (2) adding, to the poly-user station, one ormore music compositions that correspond to the identified overlap.

In some examples, the computer-implemented method may further includecreating a most-popular station for a user of the music service by (1)identifying one or more contacts of the user, (2) identifying musiccompositions that are most popular with the user's contacts based on apopularity metric, and (3) adding the music compositions identified asmost-popular to the most-popular station. In some embodiments, thecomputer-implemented method may further include providing a user of themusic service with a periodic music digest that may includemusic-related information relating to a current time period. In oneembodiment, the computer-implemented method may further includeautomatically creating a music award based on aggregated listeningbehavior of users of the music service.

In one embodiment, a system for implementing the above-described methodmay include (1) a providing module, stored in memory, that provides amusic service within a social media platform, (2) a presenting module,stored in memory, that presents, via the music service, a musicconsumption interface that displays personal music stations, each ofwhich is dedicated to music content associated with a different user ofthe social media platform, (3) an input module, stored in memory, thatreceives user input selecting one of the personal music stations, (4) amusic player module, stored in memory, that in response to the inputmodule receiving the user input, plays music content from the selectedpersonal music station, and (5) at least one physical processorconfigured to execute the providing module, the presenting module, theinput module, and the music player module.

In some examples, the above-described method may be encoded ascomputer-readable instructions on a non-transitory computer-readablemedium. For example, a computer-readable medium may include one or morecomputer-executable instructions that, when executed by at least oneprocessor of a computing device, may cause the computing device to (1)provide a music service within a social media platform, (2) present, viathe music service, a music consumption interface that displays personalmusic stations, each of which is dedicated to music content associatedwith a different user of the social media platform, (3) receive userinput selecting one of the personal music stations, and (4) play musiccontent from the selected personal music station.

As detailed above, the computing devices and systems described and/orillustrated herein broadly represent any type or form of computingdevice or system capable of executing computer-readable instructions,such as those contained within the modules described herein. In theirmost basic configuration, these computing device(s) may each include atleast one memory device and at least one physical processor.

The term “memory device” generally represents any type or form ofvolatile or non-volatile storage device or medium capable of storingdata and/or computer-readable instructions. In one example, a memorydevice may store, load, and/or maintain one or more of the modulesdescribed herein. Examples of memory devices include, withoutlimitation, Random Access Memory (RAM), Read Only Memory (ROM), flashmemory, Hard Disk Drives (HDDs), Solid-State Drives (SSDs), optical diskdrives, caches, variations or combinations of one or more of the same,or any other suitable storage memory.

In addition, the term “physical processor” generally refers to any typeor form of hardware-implemented processing unit capable of interpretingand/or executing computer-readable instructions. In one example, aphysical processor may access and/or modify one or more modules storedin the above-described memory device. Examples of physical processorsinclude, without limitation, microprocessors, microcontrollers, CentralProcessing Units (CPUs), Field-Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGAs) thatimplement softcore processors, Application-Specific Integrated Circuits(ASICs), portions of one or more of the same, variations or combinationsof one or more of the same, or any other suitable physical processor.

Although illustrated as separate elements, the modules described and/orillustrated herein may represent portions of a single module orapplication. In addition, in certain embodiments one or more of thesemodules may represent one or more software applications or programsthat, when executed by a computing device, may cause the computingdevice to perform one or more tasks. For example, one or more of themodules described and/or illustrated herein may represent modules storedand configured to run on one or more of the computing devices or systemsdescribed and/or illustrated herein. One or more of these modules mayalso represent all or portions of one or more special-purpose computersconfigured to perform one or more tasks.

In addition, one or more of the modules described herein may transformdata, physical devices, and/or representations of physical devices fromone form to another. For example, one or more of the modules recitedherein may transform a processor, volatile memory, non-volatile memory,and/or any other portion of a physical computing device from one form toanother by executing on the computing device, storing data on thecomputing device, and/or otherwise interacting with the computingdevice.

The term “computer-readable medium” may refer to any form of device,carrier, or medium capable of storing or carrying computer-readableinstructions. Examples of computer-readable media include, withoutlimitation, transmission-type media, such as carrier waves, andnon-transitory-type media, such as magnetic-storage media (e.g., harddisk drives, tape drives, and floppy disks), optical-storage media(e.g., Compact Disks (CDs), Digital Video Disks (DVDs), and BLU-RAYdisks), electronic-storage media (e.g., solid-state drives and flashmedia), and other distribution systems.

The process parameters and sequence of the steps described and/orillustrated herein are given by way of example only and can be varied asdesired. For example, while the steps illustrated and/or describedherein may be shown or discussed in a particular order, these steps donot necessarily need to be performed in the order illustrated ordiscussed. The various exemplary methods described and/or illustratedherein may also omit one or more of the steps described or illustratedherein or include additional steps in addition to those disclosed.

The preceding description has been provided to enable others skilled inthe art to best utilize various aspects of the exemplary embodimentsdisclosed herein. This exemplary description is not intended to beexhaustive or to be limited to any precise form disclosed. Manymodifications and variations are possible without departing from thespirit and scope of the instant disclosure. The embodiments disclosedherein should be considered in all respects illustrative and notrestrictive. Reference should be made to the appended claims and theirequivalents in determining the scope of the instant disclosure.

Unless otherwise noted, the terms “connected to” and “coupled to” (andtheir derivatives), as used in the specification and claims, are to beconstrued as permitting both direct and indirect (i.e., via otherelements or components) connection. In addition, the terms “a” or “an,”as used in the specification and claims, are to be construed as meaning“at least one of.” Finally, for ease of use, the terms “including” and“having” (and their derivatives), as used in the specification andclaims, are interchangeable with and have the same meaning as the word“comprising.”

What is claimed is:
 1. A computer-implemented method comprising:presenting, via a music service of a social media platform, a musicconsumption interface that displays a plurality of personal musicstations, wherein: each personal music station is dedicated to musiccontent associated with a different user of the social media platform;and each personal music station is created by (1) providing, to a userto whom the personal music station is dedicated, an interface thatdisplays information relating to music compositions currently beingplayed via the music service, the interface comprising a broadcast pushbutton, (2) monitoring, via the music service, the listening behavior ofthe user while the broadcast push button is in an on-state, and (3)selecting music compositions for the personal music station thatcorrespond to the monitored listening behavior based only on listeningbehavior monitored while the broadcast push button is in the on-state;receiving user input selecting one of the personal music stations; andin response to receiving the user input, playing music content from theselected personal music station.
 2. The computer-implemented method ofclaim 1, wherein each personal music station is a public-facing station.3. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein: monitoring thelistening behavior while the broadcast push button is in the on-statecomprises identifying one or more music compositions played for the userto whom the personal music station is dedicated; and selecting the musiccompositions for the personal music station comprises adding theidentified music compositions to the personal music station.
 4. Thecomputer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein monitoring the listeningbehavior of the user comprises monitoring the listening behavior inresponse to receiving user input selecting the on-state for thebroadcast push button.
 5. The computer-implemented method of claim 1,further comprising providing the music service within the social mediaplatform by providing the music service as a passive layer withinanother service provided by the social media platform.
 6. Thecomputer-implemented method of claim 5, wherein the other servicecomprises at least one of: a newsfeed; a digital stories service; or amessaging application.
 7. The computer-implemented method of claim 1,further comprising creating, for a user of the music service, apoly-user station dedicated to the user and at least one additional userby: identifying an overlap between a music preference of the user and amusic preference of the additional user; and adding, to the poly-userstation, one or more music compositions that correspond to theidentified overlap.
 8. The computer-implemented method of claim 1,further comprising creating a most-popular station for a user of themusic service by: identifying one or more contacts of the user;identifying a plurality of music compositions that are most popular withthe user's contacts based on a popularity metric; and adding the musiccompositions identified as most-popular to the most-popular station. 9.The computer-implemented method of claim 1, further comprising providinga user of the music service with a periodic music digest that includesmusic-related information relating to a current time period.
 10. Thecomputer-implemented method of claim 1, further comprising automaticallycreating a music award based on aggregated listening behavior of aplurality of users of the music service.
 11. A system comprising: apresenting module, stored in memory, that presents, via a music serviceof a social media platform, a music consumption interface that displaysa plurality of personal music stations, wherein: each personal musicstation is dedicated to music content associated with a different userof the social media platform; and each personal music station is createdby (1) providing, to a user to whom the personal music station isdedicated, an interface that displays information relating to musiccompositions currently being played via the music service, the interfacecomprising a broadcast push button, (2) monitoring, via the musicservice, the listening behavior of the user while the broadcast pushbutton is in an on-state, and (3) selecting music compositions for thepersonal music station that correspond to the monitored listeningbehavior based only on listening behavior monitored while the broadcastpush button is in the on-state; an input module, stored in memory, thatreceives user input selecting one of the personal music stations; amusic player module, storied in memory, that in response to the inputmodule receiving the user input, plays music content from the selectedpersonal music station; and at least one physical processor configuredto execute the presenting module, the input module, and the music playermodule.
 12. The system of claim 11, wherein each personal music stationis a public-facing station.
 13. The system of claim 11, wherein:monitoring the listening behavior while the broadcast push button is inthe on-state comprises identifying one or more music compositions playedfor the user to whom the personal music station is dedicated; andselecting the music compositions for the personal music stationcomprises adding the identified music compositions to the personal musicstation.
 14. The system of claim 11, wherein monitoring the listeningbehavior of the user comprises monitoring the listening behavior inresponse to receiving user input selecting the on-state for thebroadcast push button.
 15. The system of claim 14, further comprising aproviding module, stored in memory, that provides the music servicewithin the social media platform by providing the music service as apassive layer within another service provided by the social mediaplatform.
 16. The system of claim 15, wherein the other servicecomprises at least one of: a newsfeed; or a messaging application. 17.The system of claim 15, wherein the other service comprises a digitalstories service.
 18. The system of claim 11, further comprising astation module that creates, for a user of the music service, apoly-user station dedicated to the user and at least one additional userby: identifying an overlap between a music preference of the user and amusic preference of the additional user; and adding, to the poly-userstation, one or more music compositions that correspond to theidentified overlap.
 19. The system of claim 11, further comprising astation module that creates a most-popular station for a user of themusic service by: identifying one or more contacts of the user;identifying a plurality of music compositions that are most popular withthe user's contacts based on a popularity metric; and adding the musiccompositions identified as most-popular to the most-popular station. 20.A non-transitory computer-readable medium comprising one or morecomputer-readable instructions that, when executed by at least oneprocessor of a computing device, cause the computing device to: present,via a music service of a social media platform, a music consumptioninterface that displays a plurality of personal music stations, wherein:each personal music station is dedicated to music content associatedwith a different user of the social media platform; and each personalmusic station is created by (1) providing, to a user to whom thepersonal music station is dedicated, an interface that displaysinformation relating to music compositions currently being played viathe music service, the interface comprising a broadcast push button, (2)monitoring, via the music service, the listening behavior of the userwhile the broadcast push button is in an on-state, and (3) selectingmusic compositions for the personal music station that correspond to themonitored listening behavior based only on listening behavior monitoredwhile the broadcast push button is in the on-state; receive user inputselecting one of the personal music stations; and in response toreceiving the user input, play music content from the selected personalmusic station.